Der Band enthält ausgewählte Beiträge zahlreicher internationaler Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler, die 2015 an der ersten Regionalkonferenz Süd-West Asien der International Academic Association on Planning, Law, and Property Rights (PLPR) in Bangalore (Indien) teilgenommen haben. Die Konferenz bildete auch den formalen Abschluss des DFG-geförderten Forschungsprojektes »Sozial-ökologische Bodenpolitik«, das durch Benjamin Davy als FLOOR-Teilprojekt zwischen 2010 und 2015 geleitet wurde.
Auszug aus dem Vorwort von Richard K. Norton (Urban and Regional Planning Program, University of Michigan)
"Focusing on pressing policy challenges confronting India today, it brings to bear ideas, analyses, and insights that can only come through cross-national, comparative work. These papers speak to a broad array of topics implicating planning, law, and property rights in India, given challenges confronting India that are unique to India and others that are more universal, including the social context of real property rights (focusing especially on the role of human rights and jurisprudence in grappling with contentious claims); concepts and debates related to land as commons; concepts and debates related to land markets; issues related to the public acquisition, use, and disposition of private land; and debates over the relationships between private property rights and public welfare imperatives (especially housing and environment)".
